#6 Carlotta Carlyle mystery. Winter's approaching in Boston, and someone is beating up cab drivers. Carlotta, who drives cab part time to help pay the bills when her PI business doesn't do well enough (which is most of the time) is approached by two different people to investigate--an official in the local Hackneys association, and her boss and friend Gloria, who is part owner of G&W cabs. Gloria isn't sure whether someone is targeting just her small company or cab drivers in general, and can't quite figure out what they would stand to gain by intimidating drivers. Is it something personal or something to do with the politics of the cab medallions--the license issued by the city to own and run a cab, of which there are a fixed number.

Meanwhile, Carlotta's on-again, off-again lover Sam Gianelli, son of a mob boss though not involved in mob business himself, has been spending a lot of time away from Boston in recent weeks and Carlotta's wondering why. Sam owns the other half of G&W, and would prefer that she not investigate at all, which also puzzles her. He also insists that she needs to get into the computer age and introduces her to an old friend who gets her set up with a state of the art system for next to nothing. Once again, Carlotta's puzzled as to the motivation for this move.

I've come to really enjoy this series a lot and this one was quite enjoyable with an ending I didn't expect and more plot twists than I could count. Very much looking forward to the next in the series.

This is a good mystery concerning a taxi company (or two), a mafia family including the estranged youngest son, a private investigator dating the taxi owner (said estranged mafia son), and a friend from his past.

I listened to the abridged audiobook of this title and am not sure whether the abrupt conclusion was the author's writing style or due to the revision. I just seemed to me that Carlotta all of a sudden just knew who, what, when, where and why with no real explanation as to how she came to this conclusion. Again, I'm sure if I read the book instead of listened to the audio tape all of this would have been explained properly and seemed more believable

From Publishers Weekly
When Boston-area cabbies are targeted in a series of attacks, the professional and personal lives of Carlotta Carlyle bloom with mystery in this lively yarn. The part-time PI and part-time cab driver last seen in Snapshot is hired by the Small Taxi Association to investigate the attacks. On the same day, she discovers four microphones hidden at Green & White, the company she drives for. Sam Gianelli, her "on-again, off-again lover" and Green & White's co-proprietor, wants the bugs left undisturbed-though he won't say why. Sam's friend Frank sells Carlotta a new computer; on the way home she and Sam are shot at. Violence edges closer to Green & White, leading to serious injury for Sam and his co-owner, Gloria. Unexpectedly, Frank the computer maven, whom even Roz, Carlotta's tenant with a lively taste for men and the bizarre, finds odd, resurfaces. Before Carlotta can sort out taxi industry troubles, the past intrudes on the present and she discovers some surprises about Sam. The puzzle works well, but mainly it's Carlotta and her interactions with the well-drawn folks around her that make Barnes's story hum.

From Publishers Weekly: "When Boston-area cabbies are targeted in a series of attacks, the professional and personal lives of Carlotta Carlyle bloom with mystery in this lively yarn. The part-time PI and part-time cab driver last seen in Snapshot is hired by the Small Taxi Association to investigate the attacks. On the same day, she discovers four microphones hidden at Green & White, the company she drives for. Sam Gianelli, her "on-again, off-again lover" and Green & White's co-proprietor, wants the bugs left undisturbed-though he won't say why. Sam's friend Frank sells Carlotta a new computer; on the way home she and Sam are shot at. Violence edges closer to Green & White, leading to serious injury for Sam and his co-owner, Gloria. Unexpectedly, Frank the computer maven, whom even Roz, Carlotta's tenant with a lively taste for men and the bizarre, finds odd, resurfaces. Before Carlotta can sort out taxi industry troubles, the past intrudes on the present and she discovers some surprises about Sam. The puzzle works well, but mainly it's Carlotta and her interactions with the well-drawn folks around her that make Barnes's story hum." Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal: "The name of Barnes's heroine, private investigator Carlotta Carlyle, is spoken in the same critical breath as Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski. Here, in her sixth adventure, Carlotta buys a personal computer and a new gun, both of which come in handy in her latest case." Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. -

I enjoyed it. I was kind of surprised at the end as to who the villain was and that's always enjoyable. I did enjoy Carlotta Carlyle as the main character. She was compassionate and smart which makes for a good heroine.